Tweezers



H. BLOCK Oct. 25, 1966 TWEEZERS Filed April 8, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet lFIGS K M 0% w I 6 m s M mm m m F IR MM .W A m H i 8 3 m United StatesPatent 3,280,665 TWEEZERS Harold Block, Oak Park, Mich. Filed Apr. 8,1966, Ser. No. 541,260 8 Claims. ((Il. 81-43) This application is acontinuation-impart of co-pending application Serial No. 399,769, filedSeptember 28, 1964.

This invention relates to an improved form of tweezers of the typewherein a single manual application of pressure to the tweezer producesfirst a closing of the jaws and then a retraction of the jaws.

Tweezers of this general type have been previously proposed. They employa pair of jaws which are supported for movement toward and away from oneanother and also for motion in a direction perpendicular to theirgripping joinder. They are supported within a gripping member and someform of cam mechanism connects the gripping member to each of the jaws.When a manual pressure is applied to the gripping member by theoperator, this pressure normally causes the jaws to first close and thento quickly withdraw in a direction perpendicular to their closingaction. This withdrawal motion acts to remove a hair, a splinter orother small object gripped in the jaws in a quick and relativelypainless manner.

The tweezer embodying the invention disclosed in the aforementionedco-pending application and in the present invention relates to animproved form of constrution for tweezers of this type. Thisconstruction results in a tweezer which is low in cost, reliable inoperation, and very easy to use.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which will besubsequently disclosed in detail, the jaws of the tweezer are formed ofa single elongated section of spring steel formed into a generallyU-shaped. The two extreme ends of the jaw member are provided withappropriate opposed sections normally spaced apart and adapted to bepressed toward one another to firmly grip a small article such as a hairor a splinter. Each of the legs of the jaw member has an outwardlyfacing rectangular aperture provided near their midsections.

The bight end of the jaw member embraces a generally U-shaped leafspring member having legs which terminate in a sharp bend which extendsoutwardly from the legs. The sharp bends of the spring member areadapted to fit through and project outwardly from the apertures in thelegs of the jaw member.

The bight end of the jaw member is encompassed within the legs of aU-shaped gripper member having its rounded ends abutting the sharp bendsof the spring projecting from the legs of the jaw member. A leaf springbent into an S-shaped configuration is supported between the bight ofthe jaw member and the bight of the gripper member. The S-shaped springurges the jaw member outwardly in an extended position with respect tothe gripper member. When the ends of the gripper member are urged towardone another, they first .press the jaws into closing engagement.Continued application of pressure on the gripper member produces acompression on the bent ends of the U-shaped spring. Further pressure onthe gripper member causes the resilient spring ends to recedesufliciently so that the jaw member can retract against the biasedS-shaped spring and in a direction perpendicular to the closing actionof the jaws. By separating the retracting movement from the closingaction of the jaws, the jaws are permitted to firmly establish theirgrasp on the hair before it is retracted.

The preferred embodiment includes a cover section preferably formed ofpolypropylene plastic and which is disposed internally of the bight ofthe jaw member and wraps around the S-shaped spring to engage a pair3,289,565 Patented Oct. 25, 1966 of flanges formed in the bight of thegripper member so as to provide a unitary gripping surface. The grippermember also has sets of wings which extend toward one and another fromits two legs and cooperate with the cover section to protect and enclosethe S-shaped spring.

It is therefore seen to be the primary object of the present inventionto provide a tweezer of the automatic retracting type wherein the jawsare formed of a single U-shaped section having an aperture formed ineach of the two legs; a U-shaped spring embraced in the jaw member andhaving legs which terminate in sharp resilient bends which extendthrough the apertures of the jaw legs; the gripper mechanism is formedof a U-shaped section having its ends adapted to engage the projectingbends of the spring member; and a second spring is provided between thebight of the jaw section and the bight of the gripper section adapted tourge the jaw section outwardly with respect to the gripper section.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a tweezerin which a cover member embraces the bight of the jaw member and engageswith flanges extending downwardly from the bight of the gripper memberthereby providing a cover having a unitary appearance.

Other objects, advantages and applications of the present invention willbe made apparent by the following detailed description in the preferredembodiment of the present invention. The description makes reference tothe drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of thetweezers;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational sectional view of the preferred embodiment ofthe tweezers;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the preferred tweezers with the cover sectionremoved;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the tweezers taken along line 4-4 ofFIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-section through one of the legs of the jaw membershowing the transverse curvature thereof, taken along line 55 of FIGURE2;

FIGURE 6 illustrates how the application of a manual pressure to thegripper member causes the jaws to close;

FIGURE 7 illustrates how the continued application of pressure to thepreferred gripper member has caused the gripper legs to urge the bendsof the U-shaped spring member to recede inwardly thus permitting the jawmember to start its retraction movement;

FIGURE 8 illustrates the legs of the preferred gripper member havingpassed over the bends of the spring member so that the jaw member haspartially retracted against the urging of the S-shaped spring in adirection normal to the closing action of the jaws;

FIGURE 9 is an expanded view of the preferred cover member; and

FIGURE 10 is a side view of the preferred cover member illustrating inphantom its normal folded configuratron.

Now referring to the drawings, the jaw member generally indicated at 10of the preferred tweezers may be stamped or forged preferably out of aspring steel. The jaw 10 is formed into a generally U-shaped sectionterminating in two end sections 12 which are adapted to grip a smallarticle such as a section of hair, a splinter or the like. The internalopposed surfaces of the end sections may be flattened as at 14 toprovide a superior gripping surface when the ends are urged together.

The legs 16 of the jaw member are preferably bowed in the transversedirection, as best can be seen in FIGURE 5, in order to strengthen theirdesirable long and thin eX- tension. Adjacent to the middle of theextension the bowed configuration is terminated and the jaw member takesa flat form sharply bent at two spaced points 18 and is shaped with aflat portion 20 intermediate the 3 sharp bends. These bends form thebight of the jaw section.

As can best be seen in FIGURE 2, the legs 16 of the jaw member areprovided near their mid section and adjacent to the point Where thecross-section of the configuration of the legs changes from the bowedconfiguration of FIGURES to a flat section, with a pair of rectangulartransverse apertures 22.

The jaw member embraces a generally U-shaped leaf spring member 24formed of clock spring steel which is retained to the jaw member by aflange 26provided on an inner side of the flat portion of the bight. Thelegs 28 of the spring 24 terminate in a narrowed section having anoutwardly bent portion 30. The bent ends 30 are adapted to, fit throughthe apertures 22 in the jaw member and extend outwardly from the legs16.

The extending bent ends 30 of the spring 24 are normally engaged by theextreme ends 32 of a gripper member generally indicated at 34. Thegripper member 34 is preferably stamped from sheet spring stainlesssteelor suitably formed from plastic. The gripping ends 32 of thegripper member each include two transversely extending ears 36 which arebent around the sides of the leg sections of the jaw member to preventdisengagement of the gripper ends 32 with the jaw member; Immediately,adjacent the end sections 32 the gripper members are bent sharplyoutwardly as at 38 and then inwardly in the direction of the oppositeleg in a widely flaring section 40 which preferably has serrationsthereon as can be seen in FIGURE 3 and is adapted to be engaged byfingers for the purpose of actuating the tweezer mechamsm.

The bight of the gripper member 34 is formed by two sharp bends 43joined by a flat portion 44. The bight carries a pair of normallyinwardly extending flange members 46 which have elongated apertures 48formed along the edge adjacent the flat portion 44 as can best be seenin FIGURE 2. Intermediate the bands 42 and the bends 38 the grippingarms carry a pair of inwardly bent wing sections 50 extending from eachof the sides. The wing sections thus extend parallel to one another andcooperate with a cover section in a manner which will be subsequentlynoted.

An S-shaped leaf spring generally indicated at 52 is disposed betweenthe bight of the jaw member 10 and the bight of the gripper member 34.The spring has a first free end 54 which fits within the flanges 46 andabuts the inner surface of the flat portion 44 of the gripper member.The other free end 56 abuts the outer side of the bight section of thejaw member 10. The spring ends 54 and 56 thus urge the jaw member intothe extended position, indicated in FIGURE 2, with respect to thegripper ends.

Referring to FIGURES 9 and 10, the cover section generally indicated at58 is preferably formed of a polypropylene and includes a pair offlattened cover members 60 joined to a curved joinder 62. On oppositeedges of the curved joinder 62 and on the convex side thereof areprovided a pair of indentation lines 64 which extend transversely acrossthe section to provide a hinge line for the tow side cover sectionswherein they will bend toward one another as can be seen in phantom inFIG- URE 10. Each of the cover sections 60 carries adjacent its outerfree end a normally extending flange member 65 having an enlarged outeredge 66. Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, it can be seen that the covermember 58 forms an enclosure for the gripper mechanism by embracing thebight of the spring 24 and the jaw member and in which the coversections 60 are bent normally to the curved portion 62 such that theflanges 65 can be inserted in the apertures 48 so that the enlarged end66 of the flanges are retained therein, thereby anchoring the covermember to the gripper member.

In use, the preferred tweezer is held with two fingers pressed againstthe flaring sections 40. As can be seen 4 1 in FIGURE 6, the sections 40are pressed together until the jaw ends 12 abut one another in aclamping position.

As can be seen in FIGURE 7, a continued pressure causes the bentportions of the spring 24 to yield inwardly unti-l as can be seen inFIGURE'8 the ends of the gripper 32 have slipped over the bent portionsof the spring permitting the jaw member 34 to move inwardly with respectto the gripper section and normally to the closing action of the jaws.Thus, the hesitation between the closing action of the ends of the jawsection and the retracting motion of the jaw member permits the jaw endsto impose a firm grasp on the article before the gripper member retractsthe jaw member and the article being removed. By separating the closingaction of the jaws from the retraction effort, the improved tweezer moreneatly pulls out hairs or other items grasped by the aws.

The improved cover member 58 neatly and unobtrusively encloses thetweezer mechanism and the springs thus providing a simple and highlyaesthetic assembly.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

1. A retracting tweezer, comprising:

(a) a U-shaped jaw member having opposed gripping surfaces on itsextreme ends;

(b) a U-shaped gripper member surrounding the bight of said jaw memberand having its ends engaging. the legs of the jaw member;

(c) means resiliently retaining said jaw member in an extended positionwith respect to the ends of said gripper member;

((1) an elongated spring disposed intermediate the bight of said jawmember and the bight of said gripper member and urging said jaw memberinto an extended position with respect to said gripper member so thatapressure applied to the gripper member causes the ends of said jawmember to close and then causes said resilient retaining means to deformand permit said jaw member to retract with respect to said grippermember against the pressure of said spring. 7

2. A retracting tweezer as defined in claim 1, wherein said resilientretaining means comprises a spring member disposed intermediate the legsvof said jaw member and having sections associated with each of. saidjaw legs and said sections normally extending from the jaw legs toyieldably abut the ends of said gripper member.

3. A retracting tweezer, as defined in claim 1, wherein said resilientretaining means comprises an elongated U-shaped spring member disposedintermediate the legs of said jaw member and having end sectionsassociated with said jaw legs and normally extending outwardly theretoso that said sections yieldably abut the ends of said gripper member.

4. A retracting tweezer as defined in claim 1, wherein shaped springadapted to project through said apertures,

to yieldably abut the ends of said jaw member.

v 5. A retracting tweezer as defined in claiml, wherein said elongatedspring has, an S-shaped center sectionwith a first free end abutting thebight of said gripper member and a second free end abutting the bight ofsaid jaw member and urging said jaw member into an extended positionwith respect to said gripper member.

6. A retracting tweezer as defined in claim 5, whereln the bight of saidgripper member includes a pair of spaced flanges extending in. adirection toward the bight of said jaw member and adapted to retain thefirst free end of said. S-shaped spring therebetween.

7. A retracting tweezer as defined in claim 1, wherein the bight of saidgripper member includes a pair of spaced a g s s tsnding normallythereto, and a cover member References Cited by the Examiner UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,533,801 12/1950 Heilig 128354 5 WILLIAM FELDMAN,Primary Examiner.

O. M. SIMPSON, Assistant Examiner.

1. A RETRACTING TWEEZER, COMPRISING: (A) A U-SHAPED JAW MEMBER HAVINGOPPOSED GRIPPING SURFACES ON ITS EXTREME ENDS; (B) A U-SHAPED GRIPPERMEMBER SURROUNDING THE BIGHT OF SAID JAW MEMBER AND HAVING ITS ENDSENGAGING THE LEGS OF THE JAW, MEMBER; (C) MEANS RESILIENTLY RETAININGSAID JAW MEMBER IN AN EXTENDED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO THE ENDS OF SAIDGRIPPER MEMBER; (D) AN ELONGATED SPRING DISPOSED INTERMEDIATE THE BIGHTOF SAID JAW MEMBER AND THE BIGHT OF SAID GRIPPER MEMBER AND URGING SAIDJAW MEMBER INTO AN EXTENDED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID GRIPPER MEMBERSO THAT A PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE GRIPPER MEMBER CAUSES THE ENDS OF SAIDJAW MEMBER TO CLOSE AND THEN CAUSES SAID RESILIENT RETAINING MEANS TODEFORM AND PERMIT SAID JAW MEMBER TO RETRACT WITH RESPECT TO SAIDGRIPPER MEMBER AGAINST THE PRESSURE OF SAID SPRING.